Valve for radiators.



PATENTED MAY 26, 190 8.

P. W. LEUTHBSSER. VALVE FOR RADIATORS. APPLIOATION FILED 41m. 0, 1906.

THE NORRIS PTERS CD., WASHINGTON, n. c.

FRED W. LEUTHESSER,

VALVE FOR No. 889,141. Specification of Application filed August 6,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED WV. LEUTHESSER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Valves for Radiators ofthe general style shown in my co-pending applications Serial Nos.329,057 and 361,040, of which the following is a specification.

The system of heating which is generally termed or known as the radiatorsystem, and which uses as the heating medium steam in connection withradiators, also uses an air valve for the radiator to control theadmission of steam and the venting of air. The cooling of the radiatorwill cause water of condensation to form in the valve and make a waterseal between the radiator and valve, which will interfere with thecorrect oper ation of the valve in admitting steam and venting air. r

The object of the present invention is to construct and apply to an airvalve for radiators a drainage or draw-off stem which will be effectiveand reliable in use for the pur ose of removing or drawing off from thechamber of the valve any water of condensation, and which will allowsediment or other foreign material to escape and clear the passagebetween the radiator and the valve, so that the passage cannot becomeclogged or stopped.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinationof parts hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims as new.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of an airvalve for radiators, showing the drainage or draw-0H spout inserted inposition in the attaching nipple for the valve to the radiator; Fig. 2,a cross-section through the attaching nipple and the drainage ordraw-off stem of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the drainage ordraw-off stem; and Fig. 4, a detail in section of the base or lower endof an air valve, showing a modification in the means for retaining thedrainage or draw-off stem in position in the nipple.

The air valve in the construction shown has a base or cup 1 inclosing achamber 2, and the base or cup has a nipple 3 on one side with a passa e4 extending through the nipple and the wall of the base or cup. The niple furnishes the means by which the air va ve is attached to orconnected with the radiator, and

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RADIATORS.

Letters Patent.

1906. Serial No. 329,285.

Patented May 26, 1908.

the passage 4 furnishes communication between the chamber of the airvalve and the interior of the radiator for the passage of air and steambetween the radiator and valve, as is usual for the type of air valvesshown. The drainage or draw-off stem 5 is made of wire or other metalstrip or thread twisted so as to have a cable formation. The stem isbent into shape so as to have a depending member 6 and a horizontalmember 7, with the horizontal member, when the drainage or draw-off stemis in position, located within the passage 4 of the nipple, as shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 4, with a clearance between the stem and the wall of thenipple on the upper side of the stem.

The twist of the strands or threads from which the stem is formedfurnishes a plurality of winding channels 8, which serve as a medium forcollecting the moisture from the water of condensation and therebycreate a flow of water from the chamber of the valve back into thecoilof the radiator. The stem, as a whole, constitutes a conductor anddrainer for removing the water of condensation formed in the chamber ofthe valve. The stem, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, has at theextreme inner end of the horizontal portion a cross-bar 9, suitablysecured to the end of the stem so as to abut against the end wall of thenipple or the wall of the chamber 2 and hold and retain the stem inposition against withdrawal, and so that when in position the member 6of the stem will hang downward and the member 7 will stand horizontal.

The valve shown in Figs. 1 and 4 has on the upper side of the base orcup 1 an annular wall or flange 10, with an interior screw thread toreceive the threaded lower end of the outer shell-or casing 11 of thevalve; and the valve has an expansible member or stem 12 secured inlace, so as to stand upright within the shel or casing, by a pin or stud13 upwardly projecting from the bottom of the base or cup 1 of thevalve. The valve shown is of that type which employs a float 14operating within the chamber of the shell or cas ing and encircling theeXpansible member or stem on which the upper end of the float rests asusual. The upper end of the shell or casing 11 has a neck 15 with aclosing cap 16, in which neck is located a valve seat for a pin valvecarried by the float 14, the seat and l therefore not shown.

pin valve being of the usual construction and passage of the nipple andimpede the outflow The modification shown in Fig. 4, instead of having across bar or head 9 for retaining the drainage or draw-off spout inposition, has the inner end of the stem entered in a band 17 extendingout from which, on opposite sides, are arms or bars 18, each having aprojection 19 with a square shoulder. The arms or bars 18, with theshouldered projections 19, constitute a spring catch or fork which canbe inserted in the passage 4 of the nipple, and, when inserted, have theside arms or bars return to normal position and engage the shoulders ofthe projections 19 with the end wall of the nipple so as to retain thestem in its inserted position.

The nipple, instead of being located and projecting out from one side ofthe base or cup, can be located and projected out from one side of theouter shell or casing, which is a well known form of construction forair valve for radiators; and no matter where the nipple is located thedrainage or draw-off stem or tube is to be entered in the passage of thenipple which furnishes communication between the chamber of the valveand the radiator.

The operation of the drainage or draw-off stem is as follows: Themoisture, by capillary attraction, will accumulate on the exterior ofthe stem and will follow the channels formed in the stem by the windingsof the strands, threads or strips from which the stem is made, and inthis manner create a stream which will flow through the passage of thenipple, following the exterior surface of the stem and the channelsthereof, producing an action by which any accumulation of water in thechamber of the valve will be drawn off therefrom and will flow downwardon the vertically depending member of the stem and into the radiator,clearing the chamber of the valve of water to an extent sufficient tofurnish a free passage for air and steam from the water of condensationin the chamber of the cup or casing, preventing such water from forminga seal which would interfere with the venting of the air and theadmission of steam from the radiator.

The stem, by the winding channels on its exterior face, serves as aconductor and drainer for the discharge of the water of condensation,and presents a clean surface over which the water can flow and on which,or to which, no sediment or foreign particles or matter will adhere toan extent that would serve to clog or partially close the channel or ofthe water. The horizontal member of the stem will permit of theinsertion of the nipple into the opening of the radiator and theattachment of the valve to the radiator without interference from thedrainage or drawoff stem in making the attachment, as the depending orvertically hanging portion of the stem will resume its normal positionwhen inserted and remain within the passage of the radiator tube, thusinsuring the drainage from the chamber of the valve directly back intothe radiator tube.

The stem being somewhat flexible, can, if necessary, be straightened outsufficiently to permit its entrance into the hole in the radiator duringthe attachment of the screwthreaded valve nipple thereto, and thereafterthe natural resiliency of the wire cable will cause the outer endportion of the stem to assume its proper depending position within theradiator and accommodate itself to the space provided therein. Thispermits a single stem to be used in connection with radiators ofdiffering internal diameters.

It is preferred to have the stem or tube loosely entered in the passageof the nipple, but the stem or tube could be fixedly secured in thepassage of the nipple if so desired and have the stem or tube fullyoperative, so long as the arrangement was one in which the stem or tubewould have a horizontal member located within the passage of the nippleand a depending vertical or downhanging member to enter the radiatortube, both members having channels in the body of the stem or tube as awhole.

WVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In an air valve for radiators, the combination of a casing with alaterally projecting screw-threaded nipple for attachment of the valveto the radiator, and a drainage or draw off stem, formed of strands ofwire closely twisted together in the form of a compact cable, havingspirally extending exterior grooves or channels formed between thestrands composing the cable, said stem comprising a horizontal memberentered through the nipple and terminating at its outer end in adepending member adapted to hang down within the interior of theradiator, the stem having the necessary flexibility to permit it to besufficiently straightened out, in attaching the valve to the radiator,to permit entrance of the screw-threaded nipple, and having sufficientresiliency to resume its proper shape after the nipple has beenscrewedinto place, substantially as described.

FRED W. LEUTHESSER. WVitnesses:

OSCAR l/V. BOND,

WALKER BANNING.

